It might be time to check on the millennials in your life, because sugar, we’re gettin older.
Fall Out Boy‘s breakout album From Under the Cork Tree was released on May 3, 2005 — 20 years ago Saturday. A landmark album of the mid-2000s emo scene, From Under the Cork Tree is Fall Out Boy’s bestselling record, having been certified double-Platinum by the RIAA.
From Under the Cork Tree marked Fall Out Boy’s sophomore full-length album, following their 2003 debut, Take This to Your Grave. After releasing Take This to Your Grave on an indie label, Fall Out Boy jumped to the majors with From Under the Cork Tree, and helped bring emo to the masses with the singles “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” and “Dance, Dance.”
Both “Sugar” and “Dance, Dance” reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Listeners latched on to the hooky chorus’ and bassist Pete Wentz‘s lyrics, which were made even more mysterious and intriguing by singer/guitarist Patrick Stump‘s almost slurring delivery.
In addition to influencing countless burgeoning emo and pop-punk bands, From Under the Cork Tree had a massive impact on future pop superstar Taylor Swift. In a 2019 Rolling Stone interview, Swift said that Fall Out Boy’s “songwriting really influenced me, lyrically, maybe more than anyone else” and specifically referenced the chorus of “Sugar, We’re Goin Down.”
From Under the Cork Tree also introduced more people to Fall Out Boy’s penchant for long, elaborate song titles, including “Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued,” “I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me” and “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More ‘Touch Me.'”
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